American society places great emphasis on the importance of job success as an indication of overall life satisfaction. The primary goal of this research is to explore the links between job prestige and autonomy in the workplace and relationship themes, especially as regards goals and aspirations. The participants are drawn from a larger longitudinal study that has tracked subjects from age fifteen to forty. Each subject filled out a questionnaire and participated in a semi-structured interview focused on work and the impact of work on the rest of their lives. Using these questionnaires and transcriptions of the interviews, researchers will apply the Core Conflictual Relationship Themes (CCRT) method – a well-established
coding system – to identify relationship themes. Researchers predict that there will be a positive correlation between job prestige and autonomy, and success in relationships and goal completion.